bass and rumble.

Gamers in the region might not recognize Gamdias, but the six-year old Taiwanese company has been making inroads in Taiwan, China and the USA with affordable gaming hardware that provides above average features for the price. The company recently opened shop in Saudi Arabia, and were kind enough to provide some of their latest gaming gear for us to review. We kick things off with the 7.1 virtual surround sound-enabled Hebe M1 RGB gaming headset.

The Hebe M1 RGB ticks all the right boxes for features you would want from a full-fledged gaming headset. Its sports a 50mm drivers with oversized ear cups, 7.1 virtual surround sound support, a unidirectional microphone, a 3D bass rumbler, and most importantly, RGB lighting. At the mid-range price point of $69.99, these are impressive features to have, and for the most part holds up on its value if not for some issues with comfort and over reliance on bass.

Design

The Hebe M1 is certainly a chunky headset but its heft brings a sense of durability that gives me enough confidence that it could take a few beatings if it has too. Design wise, the Hebe M1 has a definite “gaming hardware” look but appreciably, Gamdias has kept it quite simple with clean lines that makes the whole package kind of snazzy to look at, especially with the RGB lights turned on. In fact, it’s one of the few gaming hardware that I have tried that I don’t mind the RGB lights on – it plays majorly in enhancing the overall look of the headset, despite it being useless since you will not even see it when you are wearing it.

While the headset feels quite sturdy, the big in-line controller feels kind of tacky. It’s made up of light plastic that you would find on cheap toys and feels like it could break in a fall. I would assume the materials were used to keep the controller as light as possible so it doesn’t drag the headset from the side, but Gamdias also pairs with a thick double-padded cable that adds to the overall bulkiness of the headset.

The weight is one of the key components in deciding the comfort of a headset, and the Taiwanese company has taken some measures to ensure the Hebe M1 is a comfortable fit with a spring-based headband and plush, oversize ear cups. However, the inexplicable lack of swivel in the ear cups, the slightly harsh clap force, and the drag introduced by the heavy cable makes the headset quite uncomfortable to wear over time. Since there is no swivel in the ear cups and due to its weight, the headset pushes down on your ear which isn’t very pleasant and certainly insufferable for more than fifteen minutes. Your mileage may vary of course, and over time, the clamp force could loosen up, but in the two weeks of continuous use, I found the Hebe M1 quite difficult to wear for longer sessions.

The headset is powered by USB only, so they cannot be used with a mobile or a tablet. However, they – surprisingly – work without the need for drivers so they are fully compatible with the PS4 and Xbox One, as well as PC and Mac.

Software and Performance

Gamdias deploys the Hera software to be used with its gaming accessories, and while it’s not the most modern or polished software companion of the bunch, it gets the job done without crashing or giving out any errors.

Here you will find some standard configurations to tweak the headset to your liking, including customizing or selecting from a bunch of EQ presets, choosing between a number of ‘environmental’ sound effects (which is a blast from the past!), tweaking the microphone volume levels (and changing your voice to resemble a dinosaur...among others), key-shifting and voice cancellation. You can also turn on/off the 7.1 virtual surround sound feature, and even customize the placement and the volume of each virtual speaker.

Speaking of surround sound, it is one of the better implementations and certainly adds more volume, spatial awareness and detail to the sound in games and movies (I would turn it off for music even though it’s not entirely bad!). In multiplayer games like Overwatch, I had no trouble spotting approaching enemies although the soundstage isn’t wide enough to accurately predict the range and depth of the sound. The surround sound also works to enhance environmental sound effect with immersive detail, so games like Far Cry 5 and Assassin’s Creed Origins feel all the more engrossing.

The 50mm driver pumps out an impressive level of volume, and has no trouble in supporting the audio with an incredible amounts of bass – but not all of it is good. The bass is certainly overpowering, and in many situations, quite loose which bleeds directly into the mids, muddling the overall sound and losing some detail. This is less of a problem in games which is more reliant on mids and highs for the most part – which are sufficiently accurate – but for music listening, it is less than ideal.

For some reason, the Hebe M1 is also fitted with a 3D rumble which vibrates the entire headset when the bass kicks in. It was fun – and hilarious – to use it at first but the novelty soon wears off. You could leave it on for games – the rumble is quite cool whenever an explosion goes off – but for movies and especially for music where the rumble has the chance to kick in often, I would turn it off unless you like to feel buzzed after using it for some time.

The retractable microphone is serviceable, and although it has a short boom, it had no trouble in capturing my voice. In fact, I kind of like the fact that it is not up against my lips and in my peripheral vision as a result, which I find somewhat distracting in other headsets. I have attached a sample of the mic below:

The Verdict

The biggest factor going against the Gamdias Hebe M1 RGB for me is its poor comfort. The lack of swivel and heaviness of the headset negates any comfort the plush ear pads and the spring-based headband brings. But besides that, the Hebe M1 RGB is a fairly robust headset that delivers impressive 7.1 virtual surround sound, and punchy sound effects. It’s got a bit of a loose bass but it is only troublesome when listening to music but works reasonably well in games and movies.